Beauty and the Beastmaster - Linda Winstead Jones Page 0,28
up and leave. I don’t want her to leave. I like her, and she knows how to cut my hair, and it doesn’t take a mind-reader to know she’s skittish as all get-out. It wouldn’t take much to scare her off, I’m afraid.”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about. Gabi’s not looking for a relationship, she made that much clear,” he said.
She snorted, a little. “You know nothing about women.”
“Even if that’s true…”
“Even if? Trust me, it’s true. Maybe I don’t have super powers like the rest of you, but I know how women think. A bad relationship on top of whatever scared her to this place would be devastating.”
“What makes you think she was scared?”
Marnie gave him a long-suffering sigh that spoke volumes. What it said, for the most part, was You’re an idiot. “All you have to do is look at her for two minutes to know. I was invited in, offered the librarian job, and still, if not for Clint I wouldn’t have stayed very long. Gabi has been here more than a year. She hasn’t asked questions or poked around because she’s always got her head down. If she sees anything she shouldn’t she explains it away, or dismisses it as her imagination, or forces it from her mind. Why? Because leaving scares her more than accepting the unacceptable. Of course she was scared here.”
Marnie talked too much. Silas was glad to see the lights of the Maxwell cabin ahead. He still hadn’t decided how to go from here. Did Mia have Springer blood? Would that make enough of a difference or should he plan on sending Gabi packing, no matter what?
It would be too simple, to get involved with her and then end the relationship in an ugly way. Would skittish Gabi load up her car and run? There were no guarantees, but it was likely. The plan was almost too simple, and so many things could go wrong.
What did he have to lose? With a mere fifteen days until the equinox the breakup would have to be fast, ugly, and preferably public. That might be enough to make her run.
It wasn’t a terrible plan, but he couldn’t make himself do it. Getting her out of town before the spell was cast was one thing, but purposely hurting a perfectly nice woman hoping she’d flee was downright mean.
Amnesia punch. A “free vacation” offer. What the hell was he supposed to do?
As he pulled up next to Clint’s truck, Marnie turned to him. “I do have a question, and I’m not sure how to ask it.”
“Whatever it is, fire away.”
Marnie hesitated, then blurted, “Clint warned me that being pregnant with, you know, there would be odd side-effects. I’ve handled them all ok until now, but this latest one…” She shook her head. “Normally I’d ask my hairdresser, but since Gabi is a Non-Springer, I can’t.”
“Spit it out.”
She did. “I have hair growing on my back,” she said quickly. “Clint says it won’t last, that it’ll fall out on its own in a couple of months, but… ewww. No woman wants a hairy back!”
It would not be smart to laugh. “You can shave it, but the hair will just grow back thicker. Leave it alone. This particular symptom will resolve itself eventually.”
Marnie wasn’t pleased with his answer. “I guess this is the price I pay for falling in love with a Bigfoot shifter.”
“I guess it is.”
She left his truck with a distracted wave. Clint had come to the front door and was waiting for her. She ran to him, a big smile on her face.
He should’ve told Marnie to have Clint call him when he finished the book. Almost there, she said. Maybe tonight. Clint needed to know what was going on. Silas needed someone to talk this out with. Someone besides Jenna or a Milhouse.
He tried not to be jealous as he drove away. Not that Marnie was his type. She most definitely was not. But what she and Clint had found was special. He didn’t expect anyone would ever love him that much, or that he could love that much in return. It cost too much, to love that way.
When he reached the end of the dirt road, he had a choice to make. It didn’t take him long to make it. Within a couple of minutes he was pulling into Gabi’s driveway again. The living room lights were still on, and so was the porch light. The house looked welcoming enough, but would it be?